Heart aneurysm

My recommendation, listen to your surgeon. The 5.0 is a reference, there are other factors they take into account, you should have the surgery when your body is at its best.

I had my surgery 4 years ago at 54, open heart, my surgeon told me I should based on the size (5.2) and also my general physical conditions. I was in very good shape, never smoked and that made my surgery relatively low risk (he gave me >99% probability of no complications)

Good physical health not only lowers the risk but makes the recovery easier, I was out of the hospital in 5 days, back to work in 3 weeks.

Regarding travel, if you’re thinking before the surgery, i wouldn’t do it, you want to be close to your care team. After surgery there’s a time after surgery when restrictions are lifted you should listen to your surgeon and cardiologist.

If you want more info let me know, wish you all the best!!!

Grateful for your very kind and helpful words; taking your time to clearly explain in detail
Warmest regards
♥️🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻

Listen to your care team is the best advice I can give you. I haven’t had my aneurysm repaired yet, but I had open heart surgery four years ago to replace my mitral valve, when I was 61. After a rough first week I was surprised at how quickly I recovered.

Very helpful comments. I am in the same boat as azitavahid, 62 with 4.9cm. Very stable and slow growth over last 25 years. My surgeon wants to wait until 5.5 (I’m not tall) but says he will do it now if I want. Says I could get another on either side of the repair (I don’t understand that) which sounds very pessimistic based on my good overall health and very stable aneurysm over last 25 years. So, I’m feeling very anxious with my current condition and left feeling concerned about post surgery. Anyone ever been told anything like this? I was hoping to endure the surgery and finally have some peace…

Appreciate your feedback
🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻

58 male. 6.5cm aortic aneurysm, ascending and decending full length aortic dissection, damaged aortic root, damaged aortic valve. Presented to ER - immediate surgery. Ascending aorta replacement, aortic graft, aortic valve replacement. Still present: full-length descending aortic dissection.
Additional: 35% heart failure (HFEF) post surgery, improved to 45% with meds. Stable.
Time: Surgery then ICU 5 days then ward recovery 1 & 1/2 weeks = total 2 weeks until discharge.
Challenges: HF - weakness, tiredness.
Answers
1-Would you go for surgery now or you would postpone it?!
Good question for surgeon. I would consider if my life could be worse with a significant medical co-condition. Now, while I am more healthy, or later, when I am less. As I said, my danger was imminent. The decision for surgery was made while I was lying on the bed in ER.
2-Did any of you have the surgery and if so, what was your results and time of recovery?
I did but not by choice - I was not walking out of the hospital without surgery. Details above. Start to finish = two weeks recovery in hospital (inc 5 days in ICU). My liver did not do so well and I lost a lot of the red stuff during the four procedures.
Drive a car in 6 weeks but I waited longer. I have a post elsewhere about the difficulty of a normal life post-surgery. I recovered (everyone should) but it could have been longer with a co-condition, and less family support. Support is key for stronger and shorter recovery.
3-Can a patient with aortic heart aneurysm travel long hours (about 16 hours) in the plane
Another great surgeon question!
I can drive a car for about 10-15 minutes before I feel tired. I prefer someone else to drive. I have been on an eight hour cross-country road-trip, with support and a level of comfort. This took me a recovery of about three months before attempting this trip. I cannot talk to a plane journey. I would not even think about such travel and I am at 12 months post-surgery. It is not that it is physically challenging - but I am not feeling that I would like to try. Just not feeling it.
*****
Please talk to your surgeon about these points. If they are saying "I think you should" then the decision is yours alone to follow that advice or not.

Take a garden hose with a leak in it. Fix the leak, and it could leak elsewhere along the hose.
My aorta blew out to 6.5cm and was replaced from the point of the graft to my heart up to the top of the aortic arch. For me there would only be one side where I could get another anuerysm since the other side of the repair is actually at my heart.
For you the surgeon could be saying they might remove the aneurysm and later another aneurysm could develop elsewhere on either side of that repair.
FYI my descending aortic dissection is managed to prevent anuerysms through medication. Should I develop another aneurysm then the remedy for me would be surgical intervention ie another surgery. Perhaps you also have medication to prevent or control any possible aneurysms?
Ask your surgeon for clarification.

I application your detailed feedback
♥️🙏🏻♥️

Thank you
Great information
🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻

1. SURGERY: I dissected suddenly at 50 in 2015. I would definitely NOT recommend it. If your doc says have the surgery, have the surgery. You will likely not survive a sudden aortic dissection, especially if you are not within 15 minutes of a world class cardiac surgical center. A planned surgery allows your doctor to be fresh, ready with all that's necessary in terms of blood products, grafts, etc. The nursing team is prepared. A sudden dissection is emergency surgery and the survival rates plummet compared to planned surgical interventions. You are going to want to have your affairs in order and allow your family time to plan for your recovery. I would not wait a second if my docs told me to have surgery.

2. RECOVERY: It took 2 years for me to feel pretty okay. 5 years to be better than my old self. That was my experience. My dissection was sudden Type A-1 aortic arch dissection that spiraled down the length of my aorta to my femoral arteries. Think of it like a stocking with a tear that starts at the top and works its way downward. Not good. I had no idea I had a problem. I was in a coma for a couple of weeks following surgery and endured complete Deep Hypothermic Complete Circulatory Arrest. A sudden complete sudden dissection is a personal, medical, professional disaster. Again, a planned surgery is going to almost always have a better outcome.

3. TRAVEL: I just got back from a 3-hour flight this weekend. I am 60. I would not take a 16 hour flight with this condition unaddressed. I say this for several reasons:
A) the stress of travel helped trigger my dissection (I was on a long business trip when it happened);
B) If you dissect in the air you are not going to survive. It's just way too complicated and lethal a medical event to ever be properly handled at 37,000 feet or over the ocean.
C) My hospital bill was $1.4 Million Dollars but was covered completely by my health insurance because of Obamacare. Do you have health insurance that will cover your medical care halfway across the world? Your insurance will not cover you for international travel, ever. You have to purchase a separate policy for that.
D) Your care team cannot come to you in whatever place you're going 16-hours away and there's a lot of places in this world that do not have the kind of medial expertise that exists here in the States.
E) Your family is going to have to come to your rescue if you dissect in a faraway locale. It was a personal nightmare and traumatizing for my wife to have to drop everything and leave our 3-year old, 6-six year old, and 9-year olds, behind to come rescue me and bring me home after 3 weeks in a cardiac ICU in California. I cannot imagine doing that to anyone again.
F) If you survive, and you're 9,000 miles from home in a foreign country, do you have medical insurance that will medevac you back to the states if necessary? If not, those flights start at $300,000 and go up from there. I have represented a client who was charged $145,000 for a medical flight from Bismarck, ND to Minneapolis, MN. Factor that in before you travel internationally.

So, I think the responsible thing to do is to listen to your care team and decide when the best time is to have the elective surgery now so that you can make a plan for what's ahead of you. My life is AWESOME now and I am thankful every day for having survived, but I would have dealt with it a lot differently had I known what awaited me. Peace.